our builder is telling us we need to do extra structural work in the wall if we plan to one day install barn doors....it seems costly & unnecessary when we see so many DIYers just hanging barn doors on existing walls without any invasive structural prep. as long as its in the studs or hung off a header board in the studs it should be fine? particularly for a door that is mostly aesthetic and wont be in actual use daily?

this would be for my husbands office and there is an entry into a bathroom right when you walk in so having a barn door helps the doors not get jumbled & keeps that corner more usable.

also we plan on not buying a premade door that may be extremely heavy, we planned on DIYing the door so we expect it wont be as heavy as some of the 'real' barn doors that look like they could be exterior grade.

do we need to spend the extra cash on the structural work? for perspective the builder is telling us the structural work = the cost of a normal door (so if we do this they would not install a normal door & the room would be doorless until with install our DIY barn door).

should we just have them install a normal door & casing, we remove those (hopefully without the casing creating an issue with the wall) and hang a DIY barn door with no extra structural support?

Thanks